Wednesday, July 31, 2013

i got an award - woohoo!

HOW TO ACCEPT THE
AWARD: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize
blogs who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a
German word that means beloved and valued. Here are the rules for
accepting the award:

1.Thank the person who nominated you and include
a link back to their blog.

2.List 11 random facts about yourself.

3.Answer the 11 questions given to you.

4.Create 11 questions for the bloggers you
nominate.

5.Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers
to nominate and include links to their blogs.

6.Go to each blogger's page and let them know you
have nominated them.

---------

allright - 11 random facts, here goes:

1. my mother is an ex-communicated Jehovah's Witness. she was ex-communicated because she married my father, an athiest. the two of them brought me to the Salvation Army when i was 4 to have me baptized...they lied and said i was 5 to get me into school early (at that time you could still register to start school with a baptism certificate!). i constantly had teachers say "children...today is kymber's birthday". and i would be like - no, today isn't my birthday. it was quite confusing!

2. my parents used to tie one of my feet to the bed with a long rope because i slept-walked. my father regularly had to go driving around our community in the middle of the night to find me. my parents regularly got phone calls in the middle of the night from people 3 or 4 streets away saying that they had found me. hence the rope and being tied to the bed!

3. i was a competitive gymnast and a competitive cheerleader. i was a really good ice-dance skater but had to give it up due to gymnastics and cheerleading.

4. because i started school at the age of 4, and skipped grade 5 - i ended up being 12, almost 13, in grad 10.....NOT FUN!

5. i graduated high school when i was 15 and proceeded to college 3 provinces away. had no friends (how many 19yr olds want to hang out with a 15 yr old?!?!?!?), and worked 3 fast food jobs. sometimes i was so tired after a day of school and closing a fast food place the night before - that i showed up at McDonald's with my Arby's outfit, or showed up at Burger King with my McDonald's outfit - it was a really sh*tty 2 yrs of my life. a blur. i really don't remember much of it.

6. when i finished college with a $3,500 student loan, my father gave me nothing but hell for 2 weeks about owing the government and possibly going to jail. so i joined the military. and paid off my student loan is just under 6 months. take that Dad!

7. when i went to basic training, i was still under contract with a hair modelling agency in Halifax called SHE. i still had two hair shows to attend, in Halifax, which was near Cornwallis, my basic training base. the recruiters told me it would be no problem. well....it was a problem! i had to leave Cornwallis the first 2 weekends of basic training to attend the hair shows. my instructors were not amused to say the least! when i landed in Cornwallis, i had long, dyed red hair that were not allowed to cut until after my hair shows. all of the girls in Cornwallis were taken to get "the Cornwallis bob" but they weren't allowed to cut my hair. after my first hair show, i came back with a shoulder-length, silver-blonde layered cut. after my second hair show, i came back with a tousled, neck-length midnight-blue cut. i wasn't back in the barracks for more than 20 minutes when they took me to the CanEx barber and he gave me an odd, kinda weird short cut. such is life i guess.

8. i was 76lbs when i landed in Cornwallis and the maxi-doc told me that i better break 80lbs by the end of third week or they were sending me home. i actually lost weight in Cornwallis because a few of the instructors put me on weapons guard duty during meal times and didn't give me a relief to be able to go in and get my food. but the girls in my platoon all snuck food out of the mess and my MCpl brought food in the evenings.

9. i loved attending the Canadian Forces pilot course for Korean linguistics. i originally wanted to learn Russian, then changed it to Arabic, but i feel especially grateful that i was on the pilot course for Korean. i loved my Korean teacher and she loved me. she called me "jjak-eun-ahk-ma" - which translates into "little devil". that was my nickname and she loved calling me that! she gave me my Korean name, which is "sayt-byull" which means "special star" and it really refers to the planet Venus which is a bright orange globe in the sky in Korea during the month of October, and can be seen day or night.

10. my favourite place that i ever worked was at the Communications Centre for the Solicitor General of Canada (now PSEPC). the Solicitor General was mandated with Public Safety, in charge of the RCMP and CSIS, and in charge of establishing all policies and procedures for law enforcement in Canada. i worked with a great group of communications officers. and then 9/11 happened. some of you may remember my previous posts about us being responsible for landing over 650 planes that couldn't land in the US, in Canada. we worked round the clock and got all of those planes, and passengers safely landed. i feel that i have a really funny connection to that horrible tragedy because i was so involved....and so proud that Canada did what we did. i felt honoured to work with such caring people. they got me a barbie cake when i left there to go to FINTRAC. they were awesome!

11. i am a trained aerobics instructor and a trained ball-room dancer. after i did my trades training (QL3's) in Kingston, and then was posted to Ottawa, i was a part-time ballroom dance instructor at the Fred Astaire Dance Studios - bahahahahahah! i loved it!

----------

okay then, so here are Daddy Hawk's questions (if you are still reading!):

Who is your favorite author and why?i honestly couldn't name one. during different periods of my life, i used to love and have a favourite author. but then you grow and change and someone else takes their place. if i had to name a favourite poet - hands down, without question - --- the amazing T.S. Eliot.

but to be fair, i love Oscar Wilde, too. "we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars".

What is your favorite adult beverage?oh that's an easy one....the only adult beverage i ever consume is Lindeman's Bin 50, Shiraz. Which Biblical verse (or other spiritual
text quote) is the most meaningful to you and why?

there are two and they are inter-connected: Psalm 147:4 - "He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them." andIsaiah 40:26 - Lift up your eyes on highAnd see who has created these starsThe One who leads forth their host by number,He calls them all by name..."

i like those quotes because it gives me a sense of peace, if He created and named all of the stars, then he has no problem keeping up with who we are.

What’s the coolest, bestest, most
exciting thing you’ve ever done?how about the coldest thing i have ever done? i did a polar bear dip in the arctic ocean. which is basically running to a hole in the arctic ocean, jumping in, and then jumping out screaming!!! i also did the polar bear roll - which is wearing a bathing suit and rolling down a glacier in the arctic! coolest tho would be a tie between flying a Herc-C130, flying from the arctic to greenland. the other was firing a 50cal machine gun, on what i think was a stryker combat vehicle (not sure tho - it wasn't as big as a tank but it was bigger than a hummer and had a turret! anyone have any idea what i might have ridden on?). but man - it was awesome! and so were the 2 guys helping me fire that crazy baby!What is your favorite weapon and why?

well, let's just say that it isn't an FNC1, which is what i was trained on in basic training. but i would have to say that anything that Kimber makes - teehee. those would be my faves. for obvious reasons!

What is your favorite sport in which
to participate (watching it on TV from the sofa does not count)?gardening, napping, reading, cooking, jumping into the river and then being the fastest one out while screaming like a banshee....kissing cats, kissing jambaloney, reading blogs - yep - that's about all of them!At what event (past, present, real or
fictional) would you want to be present and why?

geeze-louise - too many to name! i could be here all night and i have already been here for most of the afternoon!

What is the weirdest food combination
that you like at which others raise an eyebrow?

i had to ask jambaloney for clarification - i couldn't think of any weird food combinations. and he agreed. i don't have any. hmmmm - now i feel like i need one or two!

What is your biggest hypocrisy or
double standard?

i can't stand when people talk loud. i really can't stand it! but guess who talks really, really loudly when they feel they have a point to make? you guessed it. my bad!

What was your first car and would you
own it again?

my friend gave me his Dodge Dakota Sport for a while...to look after while he was overseas. but the very first vehicle i ever owned was a Yamaha Vino - 50cc scooter. oh i loved that baby! i drove it to work for 6yrs from March until December. i was something of a celebrity with the school kids waiting at bus stops on my drive to work. they would wave, i would honk a little "beep-beep" and they loved it. i loved it more. one of the security officers at work had this tricked-out Harley like you wouldn't believe. when i would come into work, he would say "live to ride, sista. live to ride!". i loved that scooter!

Which unfulfilled dream of yours do
you most want to achieve in your lifetime and why?

now see, this one is a hard one for me. i always dreamed of coming home, to this exact county, and be accepted by the community, and have friends and family. that dream has been fulfilled!although i always thought that i would live my life alone, because of my career and travel, and i was ok with that - still, i always dreamed i would find my soulmate. and that dream has been fulfilled!i always dreamed, once the internet came out, that i could find like-minded people with whom i could learn from and share with - and that dream has been fulfilled!i really don't have any dreams any more. i dream to have a good and prosperous life, i dream to do good, i dream to be good - but those things are already within my reach - i try to live those dreams daily. and can do so if i put my mind to it. i don't have any unfulfilled dreams. i only have dreams for the future!------okay...this has taken over an hour but maybe, like jambaloney says, i overdo things. but i feel that if someone nominates you for an award, tells you to list random things about yourself, and then asks 11 questions - well, i take that seriously!tomorrow i will do a post and nominate 11 fellow bloggers and come up with 11 questions. that gives all of you in our blogroll the chance to delete your blog so that i can't come and nominate you - bahahahahahah!thanks Daddy Hawk - this was fun. and i really appreciate your nominating me. (although jambaloney feels a little slighted - bahahahahah!)i hope that i haven't bored anyone too much - and if anyone wants clarification on anything - just yell in the comment!

2. my parents used to tie one of my feet to the bed with a long rope because i slept-walked. my father regularly had to go driving around our community in the middle of the night to find me. my parents regularly got phone calls in the middle of the night from people 3 or 4 streets away saying that they had found me. hence the rope and being tied to the bed!

Of course kymber didn't mention that she was 16 years old when all this happened :)

yep - i can always count on Matt saying the nicest things and then there is always you, PP. jeesh buddy - bahahahahah! i replied and have kept the post open so that you can reply back. it's an interesting debate for sure!

thank you dear sweet one...i certainly felt honoured that Daddy Hawk would think of me! and i would have nominated you but you have too many followers ...that and the fact that yer a cranky curmudgeon - bahahahahahahah!

Daddy Hawk - i thank you again for nominating me - i really appreciate it! as for the Herc, the pilot let me sit in his seat for over an hour, the plane was on auto-pilot...he told me when to tell auto-pilot to turn left or right...so i didn't "really" fly it - but i sat in the seat with the steering column in my hand, told the navigator when to call in the checkpoints - so, it sure felt like flying it! i loved having the opportunity!

oh the best part was i had been in 24 hour darkness for over 3 months. when we flew over the horizon and saw the sun - oh my gawd - i burst out bawling and couldn't stop for like 25 straight minutes. it was amazing!

Linda/PP - it was mean but was part of the training. in the first few weeks they didn't think i would make it through basic so they did whatever they could to speed the process of sending me home and not wasting time on me. i completely understand as i would probably do the same if i were an instructor. but they didn't realize that i had 10yrs of competitive gymnastics behind me and could easily meet all of the physical requirements.

i had special combat boots made from casts on my feet - that's another story there - and i still have them! i love my combat boots!

thank you so much Dani! i have lived a nice, full life and now i am just so grateful to be in a quiet community with my jambaloney, friends and family. not to mention all of the friends and family that i have gained here through the interwebs. thank you for sharing your story as we have learned much from your blog!

Wow! You DO take your awards seriously! No, really though, Congratulations on the award. "Which unfulfilled dream of yours do you most want to achieve in your lifetime and why?"When I read this question I actually smiled and got a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart because I remember it talking forever (it seemed like) for you guys moving "home" to Framboise Manor. Of course you disappeared for about a year. But during your absence I just KNEW how very happy you guys were and that when you could you would be back. And now .... you got an AWARD!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for rambling.... (((( HUGS)))))) Sci

listen missy - i nominated you and YOU better take it seriously - bahahahahah!

if anyone would know my biggest dream - it would be you. and Felinae. you guys were there through all of it - all of the dreaming and then finally the doing! thank you so much for that Sci - i will never forget it! and i get warm and fuzzy when i read of you drowning in tomatoes...and in your dream place! it just doesn't get better eh? lots of love to you and Mars always! xox

oh that's ironic coming from you - the woman with the 6 billion children all of whom are gorgeous and always smiling - jeesh gurl! oh and gurl - bahahahahah - you've been nominated! consider yourself warned!

thanks so much hon. i appreciate it coming from an amazing woman like you! xoxo always to you and yours!

Kymber,As long as I've known you, a lot of that was new to me. That was a good post and I enjoyed reading it. The time you spent on it was well worth while. Whatever else you do in your life, no one can say you lead a boring existence!

Harry, buddy - it's true - we've known each other for quite some time now, and it has been our honour! i think i had enough excitement in my life...now all i want to do is be a good helpmate and wife, and be a good pillar in the community. thanks so much, my friend!

Wow, Kymber! You are going to be so bored when you come to my place for a visit. All I ever wanted since I was little was to marry a farmer and raise a family. You have done some really interesting things! Well, at least *I'll* be entertained with *your* stories. :-)

(Just a little reminder that a few years ago you once nominated me for the Leibster Award, and I don't think my brain can come up with more interesting facts. Just in case your eyes were gazing in my general direction. ;-)

Sue - you are more amazing than you allow yourself to believe! you have refinished 2 homes, raised children, married "The RenoMan", raised chickens and bunnies - you have a full life story to tell! not to mention the last year and a half and what you have overcome and yet still maintain such joy - THAT is amazing! i could never be bored by you! plus you are a sewer extra-ordinnaire! you have so much to teach me and i am a willing pupil!

uh-oh. guess who i already nominated??? guess you better think of 11 more things to fascinate us all with. git off yer butt missy - and go think of 11 more things!!! i mean it!!! bahahahahah!

About Framboise Manor

Framboise Manor is our Bug-Out Location (BOL) that we have been living in since December 2010. As can be seen by the above picture - calling it simply a "Manor" doesn't do it justice - we bet you think it is more like an "Estate", eh?

Check out our Recipe Blog!

Search This Blog

CONTACT US

Who Are We?

we are jambaloney and kymber. here's a pic of us below...we look very happy and content. it's because we really are!

About jambaloney

(he's only 23 in this pic...he has 20+years of additional muscle now...if you can believe it!)

kymber here and talking about jambaloney.

i've always called him my angel. my rock. my best half. the best part of what i have always wanted to become.

he has a soul as big as the biggest mountain, he is strong, he is in incredible physical condition, he is 51 and yet most people think he is under 40. he is humble and modest, charming, gorgeous and will help anyone with anything at anytime. he never grumbles and only every now and again complains or is a tiny bit cranky (nothing that a hug can't fix!). he can cut both sides out of 70 tires in minutes, build raised beds from scrap wood that he drags out of the forest, weedwhack 800ft of our road down to the river, and haul more wheelbarrows of dirt, mulch, rocks and seaweed than is probably medically-advised. he's learned how to braid, make bread and no one makes better rice - not even the chinese. he supports my every, crazy endevour. he went 44 years without a driver's license and got his license after being trained by my crazily-wonderful french canadian friend in 2 weeks. she never stopped talking the whole time. in french.

he has biked everywhere his entire life, at one job he biked 24km EACH WAY. that's to and from! 24km to work AND 24km from work! oh and just accidentally has an honours degree in philosophy.

i believe that he is Our Lord's most beautiful and perfect creation. but i might be biased. he can very accurately shoot a ben pearson cougar re-curve from both the left and right. and his aim is dead on.

he is bow-legged and only 5'7", but has the most incredible eyes. and a tiny mole on his upper lip. he writes the most romantic "insta-poems". he tells me he loves me several times a day. he calls me "babe" and "honey". and he means it.he loves hot sauce and spicey things like cayenne and banana peppers, he buys (or now picks) me flowers, he left a lucrative, high-paying IT job and his family to follow me here to this remote little island. he builds me shelves and washes all of our laundry with me by hand.

oh and he was baptized Anglican. and was an alter boy. sheesh. somehow, through my intervention, i am turning him into a pagan-christian-fundamentalist-confuscian. look, even i can't figure that out!

the name jambaloney is a nickname that i gave him over 10 years ago. he still uses it. he can be reached at "jambaloney@gmail.com". he loves comments or emails. and he loves me.

if i were given the opportunity to wish one thing for the world - i would wish that every woman on the planet had a jambaloney. i know that i could save the world this way. i have friends who have asked me to clone him. i am trying. believe me, i am trying. one day i will perfect the science involved, and when that happens, i promise all of you a jambaloney.

i love him more than...breathing, lobster, boiled dinner, fresh bread out of the oven, bugging out, singing back up for Madonna (ok...i made that one up!), fresh sheets on the bed, a glass of red wine after a long day, sunflower seeds, lavender, growing my own potatoes, T.S. Eliot, dancing, my babies (who are really just cranky old cats!) and the Bible.

i love him more than i love Framboise Manor. and i really love Framboise Manor.

About kymber

(this pic might seem odd. trust me, it's not. 20 yrs ago kymber went shopping with a girlfriend from the military and bought this dress. then she hooked up with that girlfriend recently. they caught up through email and one day kymberz friend mentioned that specific dress. kymber said she still had it (kymber still has her prom gown for crying out loud!). the friend did not believe it. so we had to take a pic of kymber wearing the 20yr old dress for her friend. kymber always likes to add accessories...and well, we had the bunny ears laying around. ya know, cuz everyone always has pink bunny ears laying around. ok, that's it...i am out of here! jambaloney)

what can i say about kymber?? A LOT!!most of it will have to wait for blog entries ‘cuz i just don’t have enough space here to do her justice…

so i’ll have to do my best… first and foremost, kymber is my partner and i will love her forever. she is the best partner anyone could ever have, i am one lucky guy!! she is 46, she is sweet as can be, smart as a whip, super cute, exceptionally feminine, strong as an ox, honest, kind, empathetic, wise, an amazing dancer, a master wit in speaking and writing….i could go on..i will!

at 5’ 1’’ she packs a wallop – a true force of nature -she is a master gardener and chef and spent 10 years in the Canadian Military – she has done 2 tours of Alert (the north bloody-cold pole). she is a UN-certified Korean linguist and spoils our 2 cats rotten. she also spent 12yrs working in the federal government, as a communications analyst at SolGen (now PSEPC) and Fintrac. she loves nature in the true sense of the phrase..the wildflowers, insects and birds here at framboise manor keep her entranced and captivated for hours.

anyone who is her friend knows that she will stop at nothing to help and heal, dedication and loyalty are an integral part of who she is and she is dead serious about anything she puts her mind to. yet she maintains the most delicate touch and a smile on her face always, never afraid to live and love no matter where and when.

she is the most genuine human being i have ever met! and she has encouraged me to embark on the most crazy and exciting adventure i could imagine… thank you babe - i sooo love you!!!